Old problem, new statistics

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Extreme violence against women may be nothing new in India, where sati, or widow burning, was practised as recently as the late 1990s.

But the number of reported cases of rape and, in particular, gang rape, appears to have increased sharply in recent years. In 2011, there were more than 24,000 reported rapes in India, representing a 9.2 per cent rise over the previous year. The real figure is almost certainly far higher, as so many cases go unreported.

A variety of explanations have been offered up, from a widening gender imbalance caused by the growing practice of sex-selective abortion,